OBX and Back

Our first trip to the beach has come and gone. The trip covered 2,006 miles, four state capitals, our nation's capital, the Outer Banks of NC, lots of seafood, a few walks in the Atlantic and plenty of good times with family and friends.

Bo and Ellie loved the beach and getting to spend time with their Baba and Papaw Wilson. Ellie took straight to the ocean and Bo warmed up to that idea on day two. They both loved looking at all the sea shells and digging in the sand. With a little sun, both kids have their tans going and they both have a little lighter hair now that we're back home.

Ellie has now fully embraced the word "duck" and she uses it to describe everything. Her Great Aunt Wilma has lots of wooden ducks in her house and Ellie even enjoyed riding one of them. The kids also loved seeing all the fish at the Aquarium on the Outer Banks.

Here are some pictures of our trip. We're home for a few days and then we head up to South Haven, MI for a few days with the Marker Family. Have a happy Fourth of July.

Picking Flowers

Digging in the Sand

Your Blocking My Rays

Korean War Memorial

Hanging with Wilma and Billy

Touring the WWII Memorial

OBX at Sunset

Family Vacation

We leave for the Outer Banks of North Carolina tomorrow and we're like a couple of kids on the last day of school. We are anxious to introduce Bo and Ellie to Michelle's Aunt Wilma and Uncle Billy. And, we can't wait to see how the kids take to life on the beach. We'll drive to Washington, DC tomorrow and then finish the drive to Manteo, NC on Thursday morning.

The past few weeks have been a lot of fun. On Saturday, we attended a reunion with KidsFirst -- the agency we worked with to adopt the kids. More than 350 were in attendance and it was great to see so many kids born in Russia and Kazakhstan playing together. We even bumped into a few old friends from Ball State that we hadn't seen in years. It was good reconnecting and being able to meet their children.

We also had another round of good news after taking the kids to St. Vincent's International Adoption Clinic for various blood tests and developmental analysis. Both kids checked out fine on the tests and they are doing really well developmentally.

Better head off to bed so we're well rested for our big trip. We'll load the family truckster up early and hit the road on our quest for fun. Good times, Russ. A few recent pictures of the kids follow. We'll post some more photos once we get back from vacation. Be well.

Let's Go Swimming

High Fives With Papaw

Bo and Ellie's Wagon

Our International Friends

Hanging at the Playground

What a Month of May

This is one of those postings the kids will see years from now and say, "what were you thinking when you posted pictures of us in the buff on the Internet for all of your friends to see?" We'll have to deal with that fallout when it happens, but for now it's just too much fun sharing a few snapshots of Bo and Ellie in all their glory.

The kids have been enjoying all kinds of new things. Everything from stroller jogging to their new baby pool in the backyard. We'll admit that it's a little redneck to have kids running all over the place naked as jaybirds, but until they grow into their swimsuits, we'll embrace it.

The Slider

Waking Up

The Streak

Bathing Beauty